Boulder Valley starting teacher salary will be one of state's highest

The Boulder Valley School District's new $40,000 starting teacher salary, up from $34,192, will be one of the highest in the state.

The new teacher contract moves the district to a professional salary schedule that rewards teachers as they increase their level of education. The contract recently was approved unanimously by the school board and ratified by 94 percent of the members of the teachers union who participated in the vote.

"We're happy about a salary schedule that rewards professional development and encourages our teachers to be lifelong learners," said Tina Mueh, who took over as president of the Boulder Valley Education Association this week.

Teacher salary increases in Colorado generally have been minimal in the last couple of years as districts have slashed budgets in response to deep cuts to K-12 funding at the state level. For the coming school year, the state is maintaining the same level of funding, requiring many districts to continue to make cuts to keep up with inflation.

In the neighboring St. Vrain Valley School District, teachers next year will receive 2 percent cost-of-living raises, and the starting teacher salary will be $33,249. It will be the first raise for teachers since January 2010 and the third year they are not receiving increases for having an additional year of experience.

Boulder Valley is in a better financial position than most districts because of a tax increase approved by voters in 2010.

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But the district still needs to cut about $6 million from its 2012-13 budget. The district is reducing that amount by using part of its $4.2 million year-end cash balance, but it is moving forward with a controversial proposal to stop providing additional teaching staff at schools with the most low-income students.

During discussions with parents about budget cuts, some parents said the district should have held off bumping up the starting teacher salary until finances were more stable.

In defense of the salary increases, union leaders and Superintendent Bruce Messinger have said the district's teacher salaries were falling behind what's offered in other large Colorado school districts, potentially making it more difficult for the district to attract top teachers.

"We didn't want it to slip further," Mueh said.

For the past school year, Adams County District 50 in Westminster had the top starting salary of large districts, at $40,500, followed by Denver Public Schools at $37,551. Of 17 large districts, Boulder Valley was No. 11 for starting salaries, at $34,192.

Boulder Valley compared better when it came to maximum salary for teachers with a bachelor's degree, at about $63,000; only three of the 17 districts had a higher maximum.

But the minimum for teachers with a master's degree in Boulder Valley, $36,927, put the district in 13th place. The maximum for teachers with a master's degree, $72,897, also was on the lower end. And Boulder Valley's average overall salary increase for additional education, $1,056, put it last among the 17 school districts.

For Boulder Valley, the major changes are the $40,000 starting salary and incentives to earn advanced degrees. A master's degree, for example, would bump a starting teacher's salary up to about $51,000.

"Before, a teacher could sit for a very long time and just get raises year after year without changing the education level," Mueh said. "If you have a bachelor's degree and you don't get further education, you will make less money. We have discouraged stagnation and encouraged people to move forward with professional education."

Leigh Campbell-Hale, a teacher at Fairview High School who's on the Boulder Valley Education Association's executive board, said almost all the teachers she's talked to are "very happy" with the new salary schedule.

"Starting teachers at $40,000 a year is a great incentive to get the best teachers," she said.

She also applauded changes that reward teachers for getting advanced degrees, along with the creation of a committee to evaluate other ways to move up the salary schedule. Becoming national board-certified, for example, might count.

Other committees will study teacher evaluations and professional development.

"Everybody in the district agrees, I think, that both of those systems are broken and need to be fixed," Campbell-Hale said.

Revamping teacher evaluations is part of Colorado's Senate Bill 191, which ties student achievement to teacher evaluations. Boulder Valley and the union plan to work together to figure out which student achievement measures will be used.

"The contract was really negotiated collaboratively," Campbell-Hale said. "The new superintendent really seems to understand that teachers must be part of any reform process, since we're the ones who actually implement changes in the classroom."

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